UK London postal workers to stage 24-hour strike
Postal workers in London are to stage a 24-hour strike next week in a row over pay, threatening disruption to mail deliveries in many parts of the country.
The walkout next Wednesday by 20,000 members of the Communication Workers Union is set to be the first of many with further stoppages likely to coincide with separate strikes by council workers.
The union warned there would be “severe disruption” to collections and deliveries in London and other parts of the country on October 1 and the backlog of mail could take at least a week to clear.
The Royal Mail said it had “robust plans” to deal with the strike and accused the union of being out of touch with its members.
Chief executive Adam Crozier said a strike would damage customer confidence but he made it clear the company would do its best to minimise disruption.
The union today called for further talks to resolve a national dispute over pay despite a ballot result last week narrowly against industrial action.
General secretary Billy Hayes said relations between the two sides could not be worse, adding that the postal service was now facing “a crisis” unless the two disputes were settled.
The union, which is seeking a £4,000 a year London weighting allowance, has not organised a London-wide strike since a national dispute in 1996.
Officials expect post boxes to be sealed and post offices to be closed at least for the day.
The strike will coincide with Labour’s annual conference in Bournemouth and will cause huge embarrassment to the Government.
Mr Hayes told a news conference at the union’s head office in London that his members had decided by the narrowest of majorities last week that it did not want to stage a national strike but he made it clear that the pay dispute was not closed.
Workers continued to support a claim for an 8% national pay rise and had taken a “tactical decision” about how to conduct the campaign.
“That does not change the attitude towards low pay, only about how to end it. Royal Mail need an agreement with the union to introduce change. Industrial anarchy is the only alternative which is the road to ruin, not reform.”
Dave Ward, the union’s deputy general secretary, said the strike would have a “massive impact” on postal services adding: “We realise this is likely to be a long campaign.
“No decisions have been taken on further strikes but we will be considering further action.”
Mr Ward said it was possible the union would link up with strikes being planned later in the month among council workers in London.
Norman Candy, the union’s London divisional officer, said the mood of postal workers in the capital was “very determined” and claimed that managers had been trying to intimidate union members not to take industrial action.
Royal Mail said it had offered to increase the inner London allowance to £3,784 a year from the current £3,484 and the outer London allowance to £2,667 from £2,368.
The company said its London allowances compared well with other professions including the health service and local authorities.
More than 16 million items of mail are handled every day in London.
Business leaders in the capital warned that the strike would have a big impact on the economy of the capital and the rest of the UK.
